Iga Swiatek gives a sneak peek into her winner’s mentality as she survives a scare against Varvara Gracheva at Cincinnati Masters

Iga Swiatek was pushed to the brink by Varvara Gracheva but the Pule came back to win the match and stay alive in the Cincinnati Masters.


Iga Swiatek gives a sneak peek into her winner’s mentality as she survives a scare against Varvara Gracheva at Cincinnati Masters

Iga Swiatek (Image via Imago)

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek justified her ranking as she defeated Varvara Gracheva in three sets in the second round of the 2024 Cincinnati Masters. Despite being cornered in the second set, the Paris Olympics bronze medalist came back roaring in the third to win the match 6-0, 6(8)-7, 6-2.

Swiatek then discussed what was going through her head when preparing for the last set. She said she was confident in her abilities and knew it was her match to win. Swiatek also mentioned a change in her approach, going back to how she played in the first set.

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Honestly, I knew I had the game to win it because I had 5 match points. It was my fault that I didn’t close it. But it happens. I didn’t want to have any regrets. I looked forward and tried to take a lesson from what happened and start playing differently, in the same way I played at the beginning of the match.
Iga Swiatek said when asked about her thought process

The Pole was in firm control after claiming the first set 6-0 and leading 5-2 in the second set. She held four match points to break Gracheva for a 50-minute win. But the French qualifier saved them all and then broke Swiatek at love to put the second set back on serve. She then seemingly lost control of her forehand and Gracheva leveled it at 5-5.

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The Frenchwoman then forced a tiebreaker and fought hard to win it. But Swiatek reset quickly to break Gracheva three times in the final set to end the 55th-ranked Gracheva’s upset bid.

Iga Swiatek finding sudden change of surface hard to cope with

Iga Swiatek is playing at the Cincinnati Masters directly after returning from Paris Olympics where she bagged the bronze medal in the singles event. This sudden change from clay court to hard court has been tough for her to cope with.

Iga Swiatek (4)
Iga Swiatek (Image via Imago)

The 23-year-old admitted that moving from a really slow surface to a really fast one has not been easy to adjust. She said she needs at least one more match to get acclimatized to the conditions.

For sure, the transition is probably the hardest, from like the slowest surface [at Roland Garros] to the fastest surface. But that's why I'm still happy with my performance, and looking forward to another match to kind of still do the grinding and implement what I was working on, but not really focusing on the results.
Iga Swiatek said about the suddent change of conditions (H/T: WTA)

Swiatek will next face Marta Kostyuk, who beat Lulu Sun in straight sets in the second round. The Ukranian has struggled against Swiatek previously and the World No.1 will fancy her chances of winning the contest.

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